THAT 400lb Catch from the Trent

As is often the case in the evenings I left the moderating of the forum to Chris Bishop. However, to leave it to him yesterday evening was unfair of me after publishing the press release by the DVSG which I knew would attract a lot of attention. Chris does an excellent job but I should not have expected him to cope with the deluge of heated replies that followed.

Chris made the decision to edit certain posts that he felt overstepped the mark, as is his right as moderator. It is more difficult for him as he has to make decisions based on what he thinks I will think and what he thinks would be acceptable by the site. He had doubts about many of the posts but couldn?t keep up with the editing, so took the decision to delete the whole thread. I don?t blame him.

However, I think this is a serious issue and should be debated. I have long been totally against the notion that it is OK to make a catch at one venue and then publish it as coming from another. There is no need to lie.

Some years ago I was responsible for having the record listings changed because the captor of a record bream from a Staffordshire mere published that it had come from a Cheshire mere, and the records committee knowingly went along with it. Some of you may think that is not a lot to get worked up about. You would have had a different view, however, if you were fishing the Cheshire meres at the time when the circus turned up. If he had put Staffordshire mere, a lake in the midlands, or any other vague but truthful location that would have been OK. But no, he switched the spotlight off his own water onto to someone else?s with a lie.

Fortunately I have the emailed notifications of the forum postings that were deleted, which will be re-posted below. I have edited one or two that overstepped the mark. This thread will now be my full responsibility. Any edits or deletions will be by me and me alone, unless I am not around and serious swearing and offensiveness occurs. That should not be read as a criticism of Chris but just me relieving him of the responsibility. After all, I published the press release by the DVSG.

I should also like to make it clear that I will also publish any reply that the HPS may like to make in the form of a press release.

So the truth is out. No big catch from Collingham, but from Hazleford.
What I don?t understand is why lies had to be told. Why wasn?t it enough to say the catch came from the Trent and leave it at that? Why did HPS insist on lying and putting pressure on somebody elses water? Why did they terminate the membership of Matt and Adam, even though the report didn?t mention Hazleford? Dirty tricks, lies and deceit, and here we were thinking that scenario belonged only to politicians.
by Cyril Secombe

It comes to something when you abide by the rules of the club and get penalised for it. If the water in question is a club water whats the problem with the publicity. The bloke had a once in a lifetime catch why shouldn't he crow about it i would. Is the club scared of increasing its number of members of the club because of one great catch. This sort of thing only leads eventually to clubs having no money and a dwindling membership because they want to stay all clique. A new member as well catching this catch , poor bloke must of ruffled a few feathers of the old miseries that have probably fished that spot for years and caught nothing like his catch.What a miserable lot of sods.
by Rik Smith

I'm not getting involved in the actual disagreement, I neither wish to support nor condone any of the people involved. On a general note however I find it simply incredible that people will come to verbal blows and make desicions of such a vitriolic 'political' nature based on something so simple as a few fish or who took a picture of someone elses catch for them. It astounds me how petty this country is becoming, how quick people are to apportion blame, how nobody ever stops to wonder for one second how important their personal grievance really is.

I offer my congratulations to Adam on that catch as I know him to be an excellent angler and nice chap but I'll not comment on this episode further than that.
by Pikey Paul

it's shoddy the whole affair is rediculous.

as for messers rocca and pearson it shows them in their true coulours one would think really.

well done adam on the catch anyway.
by captain carrot

I dont think the HPS would be lying to anyone.
They have had more than their share of problems with idiots on their stretch and why is 400lb of barbel an impressive catch.
by john ledger

I've just spent 15 minutes writing out a detailed reply but I've just deleted it.

I will not drag myself down to the level of the author of this "press statement".
I was sat next to Adam when he caught the fish and I know what was said and what I wrote in personal and therefore confidential e-mails addressed to both Matt Brown and Greg.These seemingly have been circulated throughout the DVSG without either my permission or knowledge.

Please feel free to make up your own minds as to what happened on that day.

My conscience is completely clear, I am not the guilty party here and the actual people involved know that,whether they choose to retract or correct what has been written is up to them,I certainly won't be publishing or even discussing my private correspondance here or anywhere else.

Decisions have been made by some members of the DVSG for purely commercial reasons,this is at complete odds with my values.I'm suprised and extremely disapointed that seemingly two people that I really did consider to still be friends could stoop to this level.

Regards, ChrisP

by Chris Pearson

What i mean by impressive is how long was the fellow there ,was he camped out,was he fishing at night.I know anglers from both Don Valley and HPS personally and most are ok.I also know some stay more than one night or more to get publicity.

I also know a lot of anglers who could not put 10lb of roach together on a stickfloat yet continually brag about catches of 200lb of carp.

If their is one fish i feel sorry for at this moment in time its the barbel,might as well tag em with a silicon chip(it will make them easier to catch.

Lets here what Tony and Chris have to say before making judgement.
by john ledger

what chris you mean they stooped to the level of telling the truth when you tried to force them not to. oh dear how terrible of them to have told the truth, maybe your credibility could be damaged by the fact that you were a part of a conspiracy to force other people to lie. maybe infuture people won't believe you or will just ignore you as you do appear to have lost credibility.
by captain carrot

If there wasn't a problem with the anglers why were they thrown out of the club?

Matt you appear too nice a guy to put yourself through this sort of hassle, the Trent is a big river and there are barbel throughout its length so forget 'em mate and leave 'em to their petty rules.
by Graham Whatmore

they might throw you a red herring or two, but are they going to say that the DVSG, the whole group, are telling lies?
by The Watcher

Dearest Watcher,

You really must try harder.

I know where he caught them,when he caught them,how he caught them,what he caught them on and more importantly what was explained to him when the photographs were taken.I also have a detailed record of the correspondance which followed between myself, Matt Brown and Greg.

Given that you know absolutely nothing other than what your sad mate is feeding you, why don't you either put up,and publish your name up or shut and accept you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about in relation to the events surrounding this whole sorry episode.

You and the anonymous author of the "Press Release" are the only one making accusations of lies and neither of you have got the balls to put your names up,speaks volumes to me.

Matt and Adam really are great young guys and amazing anglers,just unfortunate (IMHO)that they are being groomed by someone for reasons only known to himself.

Best regards,
ChrisP
by Chris Pearson

"Matt and Adam really are great young guys and amazing anglers".

So what we will do is throw them out of the club eh! If thats how you treat
people you like, god help your enemies is all I can say. Doesn't the word discretion exist in your clubs rule book, maybe a stern friendly warning would have been a more human approach don't you think?
by Graham Whatmore

I'm not taking sides in this but.........

I think the phrase "No Publicity" exists though Graham.
by BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

So let me get this straight.

The press release is saying it was neither Matt or Adam who said the catch was made at Collingham, but it was Mr Rocca?

But the catch actually came from Hazleford and neither Matt or Adam mentioned anything about either place; they only said it came from the middle trent, in full knowledge that the HPS (or whatever it is) had a publicity ban on their waters.

However, both Matt and Adam have been thrown out of the HPS, for, from what this is saying, absolutely nothing?

Is that right?
by Jonny

What the hell is it all about anyway? Appart from what has been printed this past six months or so?
If this is what goes on at Collingham or where ever, I wouldn't want anything to do with it.
by BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester

I wouldn't want to be a member of this HPS.

In fact, I don't think I'd want to even admit to knowing any of them even if I did.
Angling would be far better off without them.
by Woody (AKA Cheeky Monkey & Jay Dubya

It depends on what the HPS defines as a publicity ban.If it means that no captures however "disguised" are publicised then there would appear to be a breach.It is suggested however in the press release that other members have publicised captures in the past without sanction which led Adam and Matt to decide to publicise.

Perhaps in retrospect, as new members, Adam and Matt may have been wise to have sounded out the committee of the HPS before any report of the catch was made in whatever format to avoid this situation arising.They may well have done this of course.

Too much smoke and mirrors in all this.The history between Bob and Tony over this stretch of river goes back a long way so it is very diffcult for any outsider to make much meaningful comment.

Perhaps a period of quiet refelction for all and a compulsory reading of maybe a bit of Sheringham or Yates as a reminder of what the true values of our sport really are.
by Nigel Connor

I echo woodys sentiments, its a sad state of affairs when clubs get into such a state over the running of their waters. Its no wonder the area is renowned as a circus, the clowns are running the place. its disgracefull that a pair of well respected anglers have lost their membership by being used as pawns in a personal battle between private individuals. I dont understand any of this as there are more twists and turns that is farcical to me. I also think that the people who have overspilled onto here and causing this bother should be banned from spreading this maliciousness and crawl back to the BS site where they belong. I also dont want to be associated with the area at all and I will not be attending the collingham fishin, sorry lads this is nothing personal to any FM individuals who are attending, but I dont want to go near the area.
by Sgt Bash

Well, once again some of you have been taken in by the ravings of an individual, who has grudges to bear.
It's a shame, some of you know it all's, did not wait to hear the otherside of the story officially.
by Fred J Bonney. BS. ACA

Its no wonder angling is in such a state with all the rubbish i have heard on here.
The next time anglers stick together will be the first time and for christ sake is it all about how much publicity one can have.
Why oh why does the barbel cause so many problems,is it because we have a bunch of glory hunters who cannot see anything more the next page of the Angling Times.
Why not for once in your lifes go out and promote Joe Bloggs who works 12 hours in a factory and gets out once a week if the wife and kids let him.
Before anyone says anything i have done that countless times when it would have been easier to promote myself.There are plenty of great anglers some on FM who never bother with the limelight who possibly like myself get one shot a week at a fishery and dont spend four days looking for a big ego.
AND IF THE CAP FITS WEAR IT.
by john ledger

Perhaps you would like to know, that like the last time, mention of this fishery was made on here, people fished off the weirwall.
Well,guess what, they were there tonight too, with their drop nets, hauling Barbel up the 30foot wall!
by Fred J Bonney. BS. ACA.

Dear all,

As I have no wish to tarnish the name of Adam Roberts, Matt Brown or Greg whitehead I am more than happy for you all to think this was absolutely, utterly and totally my fault.

It wasnt of course but, hey, so what!

Im just wondering what the F its got to do with the DVSG Bob.

No more from the HPS on this but we are all very happy thank you.
by Tony Rocca

Ok Tony, you are right of course.
Enjoyed your company tonight as usual,just sorry we had to come back to all this, after a nice evening of fishing.
by Fred J Bonney. BS. ACA.

No publicity?
Surely this was understood on joining the club? Why bother to join HPS if they can't abide by their rules?
These were seasoned , experienced anglers not "instant fishermen".
by Ian Whittaker

Oh by the way Adam, whoops sorry, I, didnt actually weigh that many fish and it was more like 250lb over the 4 days in truth.

As john said, no big deal.
by Tony Rocca

I find it somewhat strange the HPS aren?t putting out a statement on behalf of it?s named members, allegedly embroiled in yet another Trent/Hazelford/Collingham saga.

A question to any HPS member who?s prepared to answer it, ?Did the catch as stated in the DVSG Press Release come from your sublet water at Hazelford and not as reported in the Angling Times Collingham??
by Phil Hackett disability bad speller with Pride

I do not know the full details and I don't think I really want to. As such my only comment is that it seems a great shame that the noble art of angling has descended into such an un dignified rumpus. I just hope the anti's don't pick up on this infighting.

Phil,
We are quite capable of replying ourselves without the need for an anonymous "Press Release".
Of course we know what really happened in relation to venue,total weight,rig and bait and so does Adam,Matt and Greg,if they would like to make a correction to "Their" story surely it's up to them,why should we?

I also find it strange that seemingly Ron,Lee,Matt and Adam have allowed 2Bobs to make a public statement on their behalf which contains so many innaccuracies and falsehoods,he obviously hasn't been privvy to private and confidential e-mails sent to Matt and Greg so why no retraction chaps,bit of a dictatorship over there in Team Daiwa Donnyland?
Best regards,
Chris

The email (not from Bob by the way) that came with the press release quite clearly stated that the DVSG press release had been approved and endorsed by each and every member of the DVSG.

It is not anonymous, it is from the DVSG, just as press releases from any organisation are not anonymous.

Oh deary me Matt. I find this very dissapointing, oh well.

I will just reiterate what I said earlier then and leave it at that, some things are more important than fishing.

I said, "Dear all,

As I have no wish to tarnish the name of Adam Roberts, Matt Brown or Greg whitehead I am more than happy for you all to think this was absolutely, utterly and totally my fault.

It wasnt of course but, hey, so what!

Im just wondering what the F its got to do with the DVSG Bob.

No more from the HPS on this but we are all very happy thank you".

Tone,
Just like one last little point given Grahams reluctance to name the person sending the e-mail and therefore taking joint responsibility with Graham for its publication.
He(the author) states:
"Chris Pearson e-mailed various parties claiming they were in breach of copyright for using the photographs he took. The e-mail is filled with legal jargon. He then demanded payment for use of the photographs (although he only took one of them).

Subsequently the newspaper agreed to donate a fee to the Barbel Society Junior Section for the use of Chris Pearson's (sic) pictures. This was done purely as a gesture to protect the memberships of Adam and Matt. "
He(the anonymous author)then goes on to state:
"Tony Rocca, who insisted on the content of the story, and Chris Pearson, who gave permission to use the pictures by accepting payment, remain members."

I would just like to seek clarification that Matt and Greg are both prepared to stand by both those statements or would they prefer to be given an opportunity to remove or amend them?

Best regards,
Chris

I would just like to say, that I have a copy of Mr Woodhouse's comments, made on here,seeing as they have been deleted in an attempt to protect him..

What a ridiculous committee this HPS has. It sees a statement made by the DVSG which they dispute as a load of lies, it then hints that they have a different view of what really happened, alright thats fair enough. But, it then states that we know what we know and we aren't going to tell you so there! Probably accompanied by a stamp of the foot.

What sort of behaviour is that for a committee, why say anything at all if you aren't prepared to state your side of it, just let the DVSG statement stand and ignore everything knowing that eventually it will die down.

Fred, if people on this website are talking rubbish because they don't know what really happened, then the reason they are, if they are, is because the other side of the argument is non existent.

Ah but Graham,when this all hit the fan,so to speak,the damage had all been done.
People were carrying on as usual and taking for granted that the gospel according to "DVSG" or Bob2Bob was correct.
The relevant people associated with HPS were out fishing,so any comment made last night would have been on the spur of the moment and unconsidered and very late in the evening.
Unlike Bob's "Press Release", which has been well considered and is aimed at continuing his jealous vendetta.

Graham,
What on earth gives you the idea that the HPS has a committee? Its just a bunch of blokes that like going fishing together.
And, your right folks are talking rubbish because they dont know the "other side". The point is, does the HPS care, will the members stoop to this level. Answer, NO.

We dont take our fishing hats off to put another one with a name on it for photos either like some. We just like to fish.

lol

Graham ,as it has got to the stage that both parties are insinuating legal action aginst each other and indeed third parties perhaps its time to pull the plug on this thread once and for all before it degenerates any further? Let those involved sort it out themselves via private correspondence.Just a thought.

Graham,
Firstly we don't have a committee,don't know where that one came from.
Secondly as far as I'm aware nobody from HPS has even mentioned "a load of lies" those are your words,I know the facts,I'm leaving it up to the publishers to offer any retraction that they feel necessary.
Thirdly,and more importantly what we do in private is our business and if some of our former members feel the necessity to go public with confidential matters that is now their perogative.
What really amazes me with this whole episode is that seemingly no-one with the exception of Baz recognises the fact that when you join any club or society there is an obligation to either accept the rules or resign.Adam and Matt were fully aware of the rules when they accepted membership and these were re-iterated in no uncertain terms on the day of the captures.
Seems to me that the commercial interests of DVSG in relation to their sponsors are now far more important than social values.
Regards,
Chris

What is the rule regarding publicity, just out of interest?

Politics and subterfuge are rife in this thread.
Okay, it makes interesting reading. No matter if they are right or wrong it was their stretch of water and their rules. The final decision on any actions taken surely lies with the HPS.
Any decicions made doesn't neccessarily make it the right decision though.
Who threw the most smoke bombs?

I thought that was obvious Jonny, non.